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Mei, mother of four-month-old Amy, called to make an appointment in my behavioral pediatrics practice. Her thick accent made it difficult for me to understand her concern over the phone. She arrived at my office with her husband, Yuan, who spoke little English. I learned that they had recently immigrated from China. Although I had a blanket on the floor covered with toys, Mei stood tentatively, her movements awkward and hesitant, until I suggested she put Amy down. Immediately Amy gave me a...

Many men and women around the world are nursing a Father Wound and it is negatively impacting their health, eroding their self-confidence and crippling their ability to form healthy relationships, among other things. For such persons, the word "father" does not represent the definitions outlined in the title image. Rather, it brings to mind memories of hurt and pain, or thoughts of abandonment and neglect, or simply a void. So, on Father's Day, at 2pm Eastern Standard Time we want to address...

By Casey Parks, The New Yorker, June 14, 2021 W hen Victoria Bradley was in fifth grade, she started asking her mother, Bernita, to homeschool her. Bernita wasn’t sure where the idea came from—they never saw homeschooling on TV. But something always seemed to be going wrong at school for Victoria. In second grade, a teacher lost track of her during parent pickup, and she wandered off school grounds. Bernita went to see the principal, intent on getting the teacher fired. The principal asked...

Great essay by Monica Hesse in the Washington Post. Here are the first few paragraphs: To read the rest of this essay in the Washington Post by Monica Hesse , go here.

Touch of Health’s annual scholarship for single mothers with many children In today’s world, it is much easier to have a great income when you have an education degree. In addition, secondary and tertiary education increases the educational attainment of each person being educated, which is good for society. However, because of the need to spend on more necessary things (like taking care of their loved ones’ lives), not everyone can increase their education. Because of this, Touch of Health...

From Mount Sinai Parenting Center, June 16, 2021 The Science of Fatherhood As we approach Father's Day, we want to take a moment to acknowledge the role that fathers play and how important they are to their child's development. Beyond general praise, here are a few fun facts you can share with the (newest) fathers in your practice! 1. Similar to the hormonal changes that a mother experiences after childbirth, fathers experience an increase in oxytocin after interacting with their children. [...

Originally published on Rise to Resilience on June 6th. Last week in one of the preschool-related Facebook groups I was in (and subsequently was kicked out of for challenging homophobia and transphobia), there was a post asking if people celebrate Pride Month in their classrooms, and if so, what they do. Cue a flood of teachers expressing their significant opposition for such inclusion, including ones who claimed to be allies. Motivated by this, I decided I would start...

Join Wrestling Ghosts Director, Ana Joanes, and the Transform Trauma with ACEs Science Film Festival co0sponsors for a discussion about Parenting with ACEs on Tuesday, June 15, 2021, at 7 p.m. EST. Please go here to pre-register for the Zoom follow-up film discussion. Here's one of my favorite scenes from Wrestling Ghosts where the author of Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology and How You Can Heal, Donna Jackson Nakazawa, explains how and why early trauma impacts...

By Amanda Winn, 6/10/21, positiveexperience.org/blog Hello out there, HOPE family. I joined HOPE at the start of this year to help the team bring HOPE to the West Coast. I’m a Bay Area girl living in Portland. Well, to be more precise, I’m a New Jersey girl who made the Bay Area her home for over a decade before moving to Portland. I’m a social worker with my MSW from Cal, and I’ve always worked at the intersection of parenting and poverty, typically at a more macro-level. Oh, and I’m a...

By Cat Rakowski, Know Your Value, June 10, 2021 Here we are, at the cusp of summer. If your kids aren’t out of school yet, they will be soon. Their year has looked vastly different, and the idea of “normalcy” has been obliterated. As we stand at the frontier of hot days and hazy boundaries (especially for those who have kids under 12 who are not yet eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine) — there are so many looming questions about our kids and their mental health. As a mom of a 5-year-old boy, who...

Wrestling Ghosts is the fourth and final film in the Transform Trauma with ACEs Science Film Festival series and is available to all PACEs Connection member this weekend. To watch any time from Friday, June 11th through Sunday, June 13th, 2021: Join the Transform Trauma with ACEs Science Film Festival interest-based community on PACEsConnection Go to this blog post to find the link and the password to stream Wrestling Ghosts. There will be a follow-up discussion on June 15, 2021 at 7 p.m.

What do PACEs Connection and “What Happened to You?”, the new book by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce Perry, have in common? Almost everything. That’s my conclusion after I finished listening to the book on Audible and re-reading parts of it on Kindle. In the book, Winfrey, a w orld-class connector, journalist, entertainer, author, thought leader, actor, and philanthropist, teams up with her longtime friend Perry, a child psychiatrist, neuroscientist and principal of the neurosequential model of...